


It's our time

by youngjaehyuns



Category: JBJ (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, Yongguk is whipped, a lil bit of making out but not a lot bc i can't write it, jbj are only really in two scenes, shihyun with two Hs, tons of star imagery, very small amounts of chinese, yongguk as yongguk and not longguo, yongguk is kinda a tsundere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-08 18:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12870891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngjaehyuns/pseuds/youngjaehyuns
Summary: When Shihyun asks Yongguk to tutor him in Chinese, he failed to mention that he would be so beautiful or that he'd hold the stars in his eyes. But Shihyun smiles at him, ever so gorgeous, and Yongguk doesn't think he has any choice but to smile back, so he does.(Alternatively, Yongguk tutors Shihyun and falls in love somewhere along the way.)





	It's our time

**Author's Note:**

> [prompt #55]
> 
> 你眼中的星星，給天上的更燦爛，更漂亮。

Yongguk really needs a nap.

He woke up late and had to run to school in order to be in time. He dragged himself through all of his lessons, forcing himself to absorb information he knows he will never use again. He barely managed to grab a lunch from the rapidly disappearing stock and almost dropped it on the way to his usual seat when some kid left their bag in the middle of the aisles.

Groaning, he drops himself down into his seat, batting away Hyunbin’s arm reaching for his sandwich. Next to him, Kenta’s arm pats him on the back comfortingly when he slides down, hiding his face in the crook of his arms. He curls up again his best friend like a cat, shielding his eyes as the shines so brightly he is unable to fall asleep.

He really really wants to take a nap. Just for a few hours. Or maybe twenty. He’s honestly not that picky, he’ll take whatever he can get.

Grabbing his food blindly, he barely pays attention to the other members sitting around his table, unable to catch on with their conversation. Thankfully, they recognise his current state of tiredness and make no moves to prod him or force him into the conversation.

Occasionally he’s thankful for having such friends.

Sanggyun is in the middle of recapping a run in with some girl he bumped into yesterday, hands flying wilder as Donghan and Taehyun look at him sceptically. His flailing arms managing to knock over Hyunbin’s water bottle, spilling water over their table. Kenta hisses out a quiet curse before shuffling and shoving Yongguk out of the way as the water streams towards him. Hyunbin splutters from where he was shoving his lunch into his mouth and fumbles to save the remaining water, whining about Sanggyun’s carelessness. Yongguk is forced to move as Kenta grabs some tissue and dabs at the patch of water furiously, shifting his shoulder away from where he was laying on it before. All as this happens, Donghan is bent over in laughter, Taehyun pointedly ignoring them in favour of waving to his boyfriend Sungwoon across the hall and Sanggyun is grumbling about how nobody ever pays him any attention.

Yongguk’s eye twitches slightly. _Never mind._

In the midst of the chaos descending upon his table. Yongguk leans back in his chair and sighs lightly, chewing on his stale sandwich. He closes his eyes when he sees his friends begin to argue, figuring out excuses to leave as fast as possible. He loves his friends, really, but they get tiring to deal with and Yongguk is not having a nice day.

Slowly, he drifts closer to falling asleep, even if his friends are still being loud next to him and the lights are still too bright for his liking. As he is about to finally about to fall unconscious, he hears a soft voice calling his name, before a hand reaches out to shake him awake. Annoyed, he snaps out an irritated “What”, reopening his eyes.

There’s a few figure, staring at him expectantly, and they flinch at Yongguk’s words. His friends are quiet next to him, stifling their laughter behind their hands and observing them. Yongguk turns his gaze up to the other student, noting their appearance. He looks a few years younger than Yongguk himself, and Yongguk wonders what business he has with him. Wide doe eyes filled with bright flecks peer at him on a slim face with just a little trace of baby fat clinging to his cheeks.

_Shit. He’s really pretty._

Yongguk blinks at him, maybe for a beat longer than necessary because the boy clears his throat and shifts in his spot uncomfortably. “Yongguk sunbae?” He begins, looking for all the world terrified.

“Yes?” Yongguk voices hesitantly, confused. He’s never seen the kid around before, and even if he has he’s never spoken to him.

“My name is Kim Shihyun, from the class of 1998.” The students stammered out, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. His fingers curl as he fists them into the fabric as he seems to gain momentary confidence. “Mr Kim asked me to find you?” He states although it sounds more like a question.

Yongguk tilts his head, recalling who that was. He was taught by him a year ago, Yongguk doubts the teacher would be finding him for a chat a year later.

“Two years below me then.” He surmised first, frowning a little before pausing. Furrowing his brows for a small moment, he raises a brow. “What for, though? Mr Kim hasn’t taught me for over a year, and he’s not the type to send students out to do things for him.” He commented after another moment passed.

Somehow, his words seem to make Shihyun draw even more into himself, and Yongguk catches a flicker of distress in his eyes. Shihyun takes a small breath, shutting his eyes for a moment. He opens his mouth to speak, fingers gripping the hem of his shirt in an iron grip. “Mr Kim is my languages teacher. He says that you would be the right person to find if I wanted to improve on my Chinese.” He mumbles indecisively.

Yongguk’s eyes widen in surprise for a moment, blinking rapidly for a few seconds. He was born and raised in China and was the student who spoke it the most fluently on campus, that was for sure, but his teachers should really know about his less than adequate social skills. Socialising is not really what he does. Finding students who are less fluent but would make a better teacher would have been a better choice.

“You’re asking me to tutor you?” He blurts out, confusion evident in his posture. “I’m not really best suited to that.”

Shihyun looks close to tears as Yongguk speaks, and he wants nothing more than to backtrack, suddenly mortified.

“Please, I really can’t fail my language class. It’s the only class I’m not doing well in and I’m aiming for a scholarship this year.” The kid all but begs, and Yongguk turns to his friends with panic clear on his face.

They pointedly ignore him, striking up a conversation about the weather and Yongguk swears he’s going to strangle all of them once he’s done with this. Shihyun is still staring at him expectantly and Yongguk wants nothing more than to turn the boy away but the droplets forming in the corner of Shihyun’s eyes really doesn’t help his conscious.

Sighing, he waves Shihyun off, resigning himself to whatever is to come.

“Fine. It's only until the end of the year, right? That’s only five months away. If it’s only Chinese, I can work with that. Give me your number, we’ll work a schedule out.” He conceded, watching Shihyun’s face light up and scramble through his pockets to find his phone. The younger presents his phone to Yongguk, the keypad already open and Yongguk gives himself a quick call, saving the new number on his own phone.

“Text me your schedule and I’ll find some free time.” Yongguk sighs and feels blown away when Shihyun fixes him with a huge grin, with the force of a thousand suns behind it.

“Thank you so much!” Shihyun exclaims before backing away slowly and walking off, a light skip to his step now that he’s gotten what he’s wanted.

Once he’s out of sight, Yongguk turns back to his traitorous friends all openly staring at him, smirks adorning their faces.

“Since when does the stoic Yongguk tutor anybody?” Donghan teases.

“Our Yonggukkie is growing up,” Taehyun wipes a fake tear from his eye, snickering at his misery.

Kenta peers at him curiously, while Hyunbin and Sanggyun are bent over, laughing loudly.

“Shut up.” Yongguk deadpans, fixing them with a small glare. It effectively shuts them up as they resume eating, although they’re still wiggling their eyebrows at him.

Yongguk settles for ignoring them and finishing the rest of his lunch in peace.

~

Yongguk doesn’t think much about his meeting with Shihyun, opting to let the other boy take the first step considering he wasn’t the one facing the dangers of a failing grade.

It falls out of his mind the next day and he is only reminded of the encounter when his phone alerts him to a text and he checks it. He grins a little when Shihyun sends an overabundance of kaomoji, somewhat expecting it from what he had seen of Shihyun. After some texting back and forth, they settle for a time.

Yongguk finds himself dragging himself out of bed on the next Saturday morning, groaning as he turns to shut off his alarm. He usually reserves the weekend for shutting himself in, already regretting agreeing to tutor Shihyun. Dressing in a grey sweater and black jeans in the chilling airs of November, he heads out to the coffee shop at the address Shihyun had sent him, smiling lightly to himself as he recognises the figure in front of the coffee shop.

Stepping closer, he notices that Shihyun’s immersed in his phone the screen illuminating his face. The lights inside the coffee shop cast him in a soft amber glow, swaddled in a black trenchcoat and a light grey scarf bundled around his neck. Yongguk takes a moment to admire the scenery, the door of the coffee shop jingling as a customer exits the door.

The bell ringing alerts Shihyun, and he looks up, crossing gazes with Yongguk. Their eyes lock for a moment, and Yongguk smiles lightly as Shihyun flushes and turns his line of sight away. He steps closer, in front of the younger boy and offers a small smile down at him.

“Thank you for agreeing to tutor me, sunbae,” Shihyun mumbles quietly, speaking first, Yongguk straining to hear it.

He sighs lightly, pushing the door of the coffee shop open. The aroma of baking bread and coffee fills the shop, as they approach the counter

“Just hyung is fine. Calling me sunbae makes me feel too old.” He says quietly as they wait shortly in line for their turn to order.

They fall silent as they order their respective drinks. Yongguk tilts his head when he notices Shihyun buying a caramel macchiato, a far cry from his plain black coffee. He cringes back as he watches the barista pump sugar into Shihyun’s drink, wondering how anybody could stomach such a sugary drink.

He doesn’t speak again until they are fully seated, content in allowing Shihyun to navigate him around the cafe in hopes of finding a table, eventually coming across a small corner seat booth tucked away from the rest of the shop, the two of them squeezing into opposite sides.

Yongguk takes a full look at Shihyun while the other digs out his textbooks, taking in the carefully styled fringe and the black sweater underneath his coat.

 _Cute._ He thinks to himself, lowering his gaze when Shihyun finally digs out a notebook and a stack of worksheets, plopping them down in front of Yongguk.

There’s a moment of silence between the two and Yongguk simply reads through to find out the level Shihyun’s at. He frowns lightly at the mistakes littering the worksheets. Noticing that Shihyun often made careless mistakes such as disrupting the sentence structure and often missing strokes in his characters.

Sighing, he lowers the papers to Shihyun’s hopeful gaze.

“It’s not unsalvageable,” he starts. Shihyun’s eyes somehow light up even more, the lights from the cafe reflecting in them.

“But I can already tell that you’ll need a complete explanation of sentence structure. You’re putting the noun after the verbs. In Chinese the nouns are usually placed at the start of the lesson, then the adjectives before the verb. Your vocabulary isn’t bad either, but you often make mistakes in your strokes. Don’t forget that the left side of the character is usually smaller than the right instead of being the same size.” He recites, not wanting to put Shihyun down but also realising he has to be brutally honest with him if he wants to improve.

When he finishes, Shihyun is gaping at him, his mouth hanging open slightly.

“What.” Yongguk snaps, feeling annoyed.

Shihyun shakes his head as if in a trance. “No that was just, uh, the most I’ve ever heard you speak.” Yongguk blinks, surprised at the answer and beginning to answer. Shihyun cuts him off before he can say anything, “never mind that, let’s begin.”.

Yongguk drops the topic after that, instead pointing out Shihyun’s mistake to him. The younger stays attentive all the time, not losing focus like Yongguk had expected him to.

 _I guess he wasn’t lying when he said he was aiming for a scholarship._ Yongguk thinks to himself as he watches Shihyun complete one of the worksheets he had brought alone, claiming it was homework.

When they move onto sentence structure, Yongguk is met with more difficulty.

“他們兩個攤在翠綠的草上，觀看滿天燦爛的星星。“ He explains, pointing to a sentence in the textbook. “See here, there are no subjects explicitly mentioned here, the characters 他們 being used to give off a more vague feeling. 兩個 is simply a way to show that there is two of them. 攤 is the verb, it has a lot of strokes but just means lay or two lay down on. 翠綠 is an adjective. It’s a pretty way of describing green and fresh. 的 is used in most situations as a connecting character. 草上 means atop of the grass. As you can see, in this segment, the noun comes before the verb and the adjective and is placed at the beginning. The adjective in this situation isn’t used to describe the verb, but an adverb instead. Instead, the verb is used to used to describe their action of lying down on the grass. ”

Shihyun nods furiously as Yongguk explains, jotting down notes. Yongguk waits for his frantic writing to stop before continuing.

“The comma separates the two parts of the sentence, meaning that they are moving onto a different action now. 觀看 is a verb, able to be placed at the beginning of this part since there is already a noun at the beginning of the sentence. It means looking, or to watch or to gaze. 滿天 is an adjective, 滿 being full of and 天 being the sky. Put together, it means the sky is filled with. 燦爛 is another adjective, and it means sparkling and bright. 星星 is the character for stars. It is repeated to in most occasions to show that there are many stars. The whole sentence put together translate to the two of them laid on the fresh grass, gazing up at the sparkling stars filling the sky. Can you see how the structure is different translated?”

He asks, and Shihyun nods, expression awed as he yelps in excitement as the rest of the textbook becomes much easier to read. Yongguk tries his best not to grin as Shihyun looks at him with excitement in his eyes, exclaiming that he understands far more now. He snorts and lets Shihyun work while he sips on his coffee, watching Shihyun work.

When Shihyun finishes and hands him back the worksheet to look over, Yongguk proudly nods at the results, and Shihyun’s smile grows wider.

A glance at the clock tells the two of them two hours have already passed, Yongguk starts when he realises how quickly time had passed. It felt like he had barely taught Shihyun anything. Yet Shihyun thanks him endlessly as the two of them take their leave. At the front of the store, Shihyun pulls on Yongguk’s sleeve for a moment, and Yongguk turns back, confused.

“Hyung, do you think we could ever stargaze together.” Shihyun implored, a curious look in his eyes.

Yongguk simply smiles. “我們在未來一起去看吧,“ He says instead, watching Shihyun’s brows furrow together.

With that, he takes his leave, hiding a laugh as he hears Shihyun’s indignant whines behind him.

~

In the same manner, months past and Yongguk finds himself on the now familiar path back to the coffee shop in the freezing days of January. Shihyun’s exams would be in April, and the speed he was rapidly improving at brought pride to Yongguk.

Shihyun had grasped the concept of sentence structures, working to continue expanding his vocabulary and piece more sentences together in a small paragraph. Yongguk had managed to get him to remember the reasoning for the different basic Chinese characters, stating that shape was important when looking at the meaning of the words.

Yongguk settles into their corner booth, surprised at Shihyun’s absence. The younger was usually on time for their meetings, arriving earlier than Yongguk most of the time. He sips his coffee as he brings out a few of Shihyun’s worksheets from the last week, reading over them.

When five minutes past the usual time arrives, Yongguk begins looking at the door of the cafe every so often, worry stewing inside him. He waits for another five minutes before he says Shihyun burst into the cafe, looking frazzled. Yongguk’s mouth drops open when he notices Shihyuns in only a sweater and skinny jeans, shivering just at the thought of walking outside without a thick jacket. Shihyun drops himself down into the seat opposite Yongguk, mouthy breathy apologies.

Yongguk waves him off, not pursuing the topic. Shihyun will tell him if he wants to, he’s not here to force Shihyun to do anything he doesn’t want to.

Still, he tilts his head in question when Shihyun admits that he hadn’t brought along any materials today. Yongguk wonders what could have left Shihyun in this state of disarray, sighing as he simply brings out the worksheets from last week to review over. Shihyun continues to mutter apologies, Yongguk brushing them off. It’s Shihyun’s first time being late, he doesn’t doubt that there was at least a good reason.

Yet when the lesson drags on, it’s clear that Shihyun’s mind isn’t in the coffee shop with him, floating far away from him. Yongguk has to call several times to get Shihyun to focus, and irritation begins building lightly with each second of the clock. Yongguk sighs loudly and snaps the workbook close, watching Shihyun jump and return to reality.

Shihyun looks at him confusedly as Yongguk begins gathering up the materials.

“It’s clear your minds not in the lesson, let’s take a small break to gather your thoughts.” Yongguk commented.

At his words, Shihyun continues to stare at him until the words sink in, and then he’s hiding his face in the crook of his arms. Yongguk waits for him quietly, sipping his cup of coffee.

When Shihyun looks up again, there are small beads of tears gathering in his eyes, and Yongguk softens at the sight. Shaking his head, he reaches over the table to ruffle Shihyun’s hair, shoving the notes inside his tote bag and standing up.

Shihyun is still gazing at him in nervousness and Yongguk offers him a hand.

“Let’s go. We can eat ice cream or something. It’ll be my treat,” He proposes.

“You don’t have to do this for me, hyung. You can leave, I’m sorry for my behaviour,” Shihyun croaks, a hiccup in his words.

“I’m offering aren’t I?” Yongguk shoots back, cracking a smile in victory and Shihyun begins to tidy up.

“It’s January. I’m pretty sure it’s snowing outside,” Shihyun protests one more time, blinking at Yongguk.

“Do you want free ice cream or not? There’s a decent place a block down according to my friends.” Yongguk says simply.

He doesn’t complain when Shihyun latches onto his arm, leading them out of the cafe and down to the store. Shihyun was right and there were light flakes of snow falling outside. Shihyun’s shivering in his getup and Yongguk doesn’t say a word when he wraps his scarf after Shihyun instead.

The two of them fall into comfortable silence as they travel down the street. Yongguk keeps his arm around Shihyun, frowning as the boy continues to shudder.

They manage to find the small shop, the inside deserted with the cashier practically sleeping behind the counter. Yongguk’s more surprised at the fact the shops still open in January. The bell on the door jiggles as the two of them walk in, snapping the cashier awake. When he sees them, he shakes his head in disbelief, tidying up his apron and fixing his hair.

Yongguk approaches the counter, ordering a vanilla scoop for himself and shaking his head when Shihyun orders a raspberry cheesecake. Leave it to the kid to always find the sweetest item on the menu.

They seat themselves in the corner of the shop, away from the windows of anything prying eyes. Still in silence, Yongguk watches as Shihyun downs his scoop, only making a small noise of protest when Shihyun steals a spoonful from his own cup. When Shihyun finishes his scoop, an odd determination in his eyes, Yongguk makes no move to begin a conversation, even when Shihyun’s gaze turns to him. The cheap lavender lights from the shop reflect in his eyes, leaving bright rings of sparkling stars.

It’s silent in the shop, even the cashier has disappeared into the back rooms after Yongguk waved him away earlier. The lull in conversation drapes itself over them, and the two of them glance at each other, gazes locking.

Shihyun’s bottom lip begins to tremble, and Yongguk waits.

And Shihyun’s tears begin to fall.

The calm that befalls the both of them should be anything but comfortable, as Yongguk watches and Shihyun cries. Yet the quiet is soft, warm around them.

When Shihyun looks up again, he speaks.

He admits the difficult stage his family is in, their lack of money. Yongguk listens as words fall from Shihyun in a hurry, as though their time was limited. Shihyun admits the only reason he’s aiming for a scholarship is to take the weight of the cost of his education of his parents, and Yongguk opens his arms in wordless comfort as Shihyun sobs into his shoulder.

It is strange, that two months ago they were living in the same campus to pass the last remaining strands of their youth without a word to each other and here they are now, Yongguk’s arm rubbing comforting circles into Shihyun’s back even as he continues to cry.

Shihyun runs out of tears eventually, and Yongguk makes no comment on his red-rimmed eyes. Their conversation is hushed, peaceful, as Yongguk soothes Shihyun with mantras of “It’s okay,”.

(The next time they meet, Yongguk pushes an envelope of every penny Shihyun’s given him for tutoring him under a cup of caramel macchiato and hides a small smile when Shihyun splutters out protest and gratitude.)

~

Yongguk’s frantic.

Shihyun calls him half an hour before their tutoring session, except it's not Shihyun and it’s Shihyun’s mom telling him Shihyun’s had an allergy attack from the pollen floating in the air now that spring is upon them and he’s in the hospital. Yongguk barely hears the world allergy and hospital before Shihyun’s mom is hanging up, leaving him with a mind full of jumbled thoughts.

Yongguk proceeds to freak out, of course.

He taps his feet nervously, checking his phone every so often for an update. He’s never known that Shihyun has an allergy problem, much less one serious enough to _land him in the hospital._

He attempts to finish his homework for the weekend, fidgeting worriedly in his seat, his pencil trails off his page, the graphite leaving faint marks on the paper. Dropping his head onto his table, he lets out a faint groan. Truthfully, he doesn’t know why he’s so nervous, but the thought or Shihyun in a hospital makes his stomach churn. Something about how bright the boy is doesn’t fit with the pristine white walls of the hospital, overflowing with the artificial and sterile smell.

When his phone lights up again, he leaps across the room to check up on it, sighing in irritation when it’s just a text from Taehyun asking in the group chat if the six of them should meet up to hang out. He loves his friends, but it wasn’t what he was waiting for. He collapses onto his bed, still jittery. Picking up his mug on his bedside table, he sips the tea he brewed earlier, calming himself down.

He stews in worry, staring at the opposite wall. He’s about to fall asleep when his phone lights up with a call, and he scrambles upwards to read for the device, fumbling with it. He lets out a sigh of relief when he sees Shihyun’s name at the top of the screen, swiping answer before his mind has caught up with the situation.

It goes through immediately, with Yongguk’s thoughts still a mess, and Shihyun’s voice is flooding through his speaker.

“Hyung?” Shihyun timidly says, much quieter than he ever should be.

“Shihyun,” He forces himself to say calmly, choking down a strangled noise. “How are you? I heard you had an allergy attack,”

Shihyun chuckles over the line. “I never like spring for this reason, and March is always my worst month,” He follows up with a short laugh, a deprecating noise, and Yongguk frowns.

He wishes he could be next to Shihyun to wrap him in his arms. Shihyun sounded defeated, tired, and he should never sound like that.

“Shihyun,” He starts, trailing off unsurely. “Is everything okay?” He asks after a moment’s pause.

On the other end, he hears the rustling noise of cloth shifting, guessing it was Shihyun lying on a bed. The conversation is silent for a moment before Shihyun speaks.

“It’s nothing really, hyung.” Shihyun whispers. “My hospital fees, you know how they are,”

Yongguk’s heart clenches, turning to look at the clock. 9 pm, he doubts the hospital would be closing yet.

“Do you want me to visit?” He blurts out, biting his lip once he finishes, horrified at his own abruptness.

“Now?” Shihyun sounds alarmed as more shifting occurs over the line. “You don’t have to visit me, hyung, not because you feel obliged to. Besides, it’s late and the hospital says I can leave tomorrow afternoon. I just need to rest for a week. I’ll see you the Saturday after that. You can live without me for two weeks, can’t you?” Shihyun jokes, a strained sound.

Yongguk sulks, a grimace marring his features. “I’ll come visit tomorrow.” He announces an air of finality to it. “It’s not because I feel obliged to, it’s because I want to. Believe it or not, Shihyun, I consider you a friend and I care about you.”

Shihyun lets out a noise of protest but falls silent when he realises Yongguk’s serious.

They sit in uncomfortable silence after that, until Shihyun gets called by a nurse and he bids Yongguk goodbye. Yongguk is about to hang up in displeasure when Shihyun mutters a “thank you” into the phone and signs off.

Yongguk blinks in surprise at the device in his hand.

He sleeps well.

When he wakes the next morning, he doesn’t think twice before he’s shoving himself into jeans and a hoodie, heading out of the house towards the hospital. He told Shihyun he would visit and he wasn’t about to turn back on his word.

Surprisingly, the nurse lets him through easily enough when he says he’s here to visit Shihyun. He doesn’t doubt that Shihyun would be asleep, considering that if he had to leave in the afternoon he would be awake by now to check out.

Turning the corner, he finds the designated room and steps into it. In the centre of the small room, Shihyun lies in a hospital gown, blankets swathed around his feet, reading a book by the window. Shihyun looks up, and the stars in his eyes explode as they crinkle up into crescent moons when they notice his presence.

“Hyung!” Shihyun exclaims lightly, sliding off the bed and leaving his book on a pillow. “I didn’t think you would come,”

Yongguk grins lightly. “I said I would, didn’t I. Besides, you left your homework to me and I needed to hand them back to you anyways.” He chided, extracting a wad of paper from the bag he had brought along.

He tuts lightly when he notices the mess on the bedside table, chastising Shihyun lightly as he clears up the mess and folds the blankets left on Shihyun’s bed. He clears out space for him to put down the clear folder with Shihyun’s homework and his own notes, marked carefully with post-its and encouraging messages scattered throughout the pages.

When he turns back to Shihyun, the boy is still smiling at him, and Yongguk is blinded momentarily by the force and the weight of the smile. Decked in a white hospital gown, Shihyun’s mussed up hair is sticking up over the place and there’s still a faint sickly aura surrounding him.

Yongguk thinks he’s beautiful.

He smiles back.

~

The following week, he meets with the five of his friends in the coffee shop he and Shihyun study in. Shihyun’s still resting, so they’ve cancelled their session for the week.

Yongguk spots his friends waving to him at a booth near the window, far away from the small corner booth he and Shihyun prefer to study in and slides in next to Donghan, apologising for his late appearance. He leaves his bag with his friends and walks up the counter to order his drink.

Yet when he approaches the cashier, he hesitates as a thought strikes him. The cashier is peering up him confusedly, and Yongguk blurts out his order.

“A caramel macchiato, please”

When he walks back to their table, his friends gape at him, sipping out of the tall glass mug instead of the ceramic cup of black coffee. He settles down into the cushion seats, feeling self-conscious. The sugar stings his throat, unused to the sudden intake, yet he sips the liquid down with nothing but the smallest grimace.

“Is the bitter Yonggukkie finally trying to sweeten up?” Sanggyun teases, and his friends laugh at him lightly.

He complains under his breath, choosing to stay silent. Sometimes, he wonders how he ended up with such loud friends when he’s so quiet and barely speaks in any social situation. As his friends continue to speak, his eyes drift to the small corner him and Shihyun occupy every week, eyeing the two seating there at the moment.

He spaces out as he watches the people pass by, and when he’s shocked back into reality when a palm slams into the table in front of him, he turns back to his friend’s curious gaze. Across from him, Kenta’s staring at him worriedly, and Taehyun has a knowing look on his face.

“What?” He objects, unused to the sudden attention.

“It’s not like you to space out so much,” Hyunbin comments. “Even if you’re quiet you would listen,”

His friends question him, and he shifts uncomfortably, sipping his drink.

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking that Shihyun’s exams are in April and that’s next month. I worry he isn’t doing well enough.” He mutters quietly, the sudden thought about Shihyun’s tests striking him.

Once Shihyun finishes his exams and likely pass with flying colours, the two of them would have no more reason to meet up. Yongguk was simply Shihyun’s tutor, somebody to teach Shihyun the material he did not understand. The thought leaves him sullen and dour, and he sinks into his seat lightly.

Then suddenly, Donghan is howling with laughter next to him.

“Christs, Yongguk. It's your first week without seeing him and you’re still thinking about him? I can’t believe you haven’t caught on yet.” Dnnghan wheezes.

Yongguk’s eye twitches as the entire table erupts into giggles, feeling left out of the loop.

“What?” He snaps, confused.

“Oh my god, Gukkie,” Taehyun gasps through his laughing fit. “How long have you know Shihyun now?”

“Five months?” Yongguk mumbles, still befuddled.

“And we’ve known you for five years and we’ve never seen you so interested in _anybody,_ ” Taehyun continues pointedly. The other four have fallen quiet and are watching the conversation in amusement.

“And? Your point it? Shihyun’s a cute kid and I enjoy tutoring him,” Yongguk defends himself, not liking where he foresees this conversation is going.

“But he’s not cute enough for you to spend every waking moment checking your phone for a text from him or look around just to see if he’s there every time you walk into a room.” Taehyun counters, a smirk on his face.

Yongguk frowns. “Where are you trying to go with this?” He questions, annoyance poking at him.

“Yongguk.” Taehyun deadpans. “You like him. More than a friend. It’s beyond obvious.”

The words sink in and Yongguk’s choking on air, Donghan patting his back unsympathetically next to him as the rest of the table is sent into peeling laughter again.

“Wha- Why- Whe- What?” He splutters, knowing that he must be blushing red by now. His friends continue laughing at his apparent misery. “Where did you even draw that conclusion from?”

Kenta curbs his laughter, choking out a strangled noise. “Yongguk, I hate to break it to you, but you’re literally the only person who doesn’t you’re whipped for Shihyun, except maybe Shihyun himself.”

Yongguk gapes at his best friend, feeling betrayed. He thought Kenta would at least on his side for this, but apparently, all of his friends were traitors.

He stares at the rest of them still hunched over laughing and thinks on their words. It’s true that he enjoys spending time with Shihyun, but wasn’t that was friends do?

He must have looked confused, because Sanggyun huffs out a question, still laughing. “Alright Yongguk, pretend that Shihyun begins ditching your tutoring sessions for a boyfriend, how would you feel?”

Yongguk imagines the situation and has to physically force a rising snarl down. Shihyun would never-

_oh._

His eyes widen, and suddenly it’s as if a missing puzzle piece has clicked into place. Something about him feels more complete, more right as if he understands more now.

His friends take note of his expression and begin laughing all over again, but Yongguk pays them no mind as all he did not understood becomes clear to him.

He sees Shihyun in his mind, the glittering stars he holds in his eyes, reflecting against a midnight blue sky. He sees Shihyun’s soft smile, holding all the secrets of the universe. He sees Shihyun, all of Shihyun. And Shihyun is beautiful, precious and gorgeous, and Yongguk wants

“Fuck.” He curses out loud at the new revelation.

He has a crush on Shihyun.

He slides down in his seat, still dazed as his friends manage to fall quiet and watch him in amusement.

“Okay. I think I might be seeing where you guys are coming from.” He deadpans. “I am indeed, kinda whipped.”

He sinks his head into his arms in misery as his friends begin laughing again.

~

The leaves on the trees start turning chartreuse again, and spring arrives.

Along with the humid air, the shamrock and emerald of spring littering the trees, and the spring breeze, Shihyun’s exams loom before the two of them.

Yongguk finds himself an hour before Shihyun’s language exam, with younger boy clutching at his arm, squeezing the life out of it. Yongguk can barely feel his arm from how numb it was going at the lack of blood flow, but he lets Shihyun have his way.

As he watches Shihyun mutter incoherent Chinese phrases and let go of his arm to flip through a textbook, he allows himself a fond smile. Even if he was aware of his own feelings now, Shihyun became no less endearing. Perhaps he had only become more, but Yongguk knows that Shihyun would be equally captivating no matter where they stood.

He lets out a barely audible sigh of relief as his arm begins working once again and draws it closer to himself. Shihyun’s next to him on the grey seats, an empty classroom a short walk from Shihyun’s exam hall. Since the exams are ongoing, classes have been put onto a pause, and Yongguk doubts anybody would bother them for the rest of the hour.

Shihyun’s immersed in his notebook now, furiously jotting down notes at a rapid pace. Yongguk takes out his phone and pretends to scroll through it, shooting glances at the younger boy occasionally.

It’s quiet except for the scratching of pen on paper, and Yongguk realises that the silence captures their relationship well. It’s comforting, the unspoken much clearer to them than the surface and Yongguk enjoys the calm.

Shihyun jolts in his seat as he finishes off a sentence with a flourish, a triumphant smile on his face. He turns to Yongguk, a twinkling star dotting each eye as they curve into.

“I think I have it all down, hyung,” Shihyun announces, a certain tone of seriousness in his voice.

Yongguk cracks a grin.

“At long last. I hope my tutoring stays with you.” He articulated as he stretches. “It’s good that you feel confident now, there are twenty minutes until you have to be in the exam hall. I don’t even know why you called me here today, considering all you did was make me sit next to you while you revised.”

Shihyun’s face spits into a beam, and Yongguk’s heart softens at the sight. “It’s because I like your presence, hyung, you’re comfortable,” Shihyun concurs, as he shifts and curls up into Yongguk’s side, burying his head into Yongguk’s shoulder.

Yongguk thinks he’s absolutely adorable.

But he knows, when Shihyun walks out of his test two hours later, they’ll have no more reason to meet up anymore. He is Shihyun’s tutor, and Shihyun will not have any use for him in a few hours.

Yet he ignores the nagging inside his head and shifts to throw an arm over Shihyun, letting the boy burrow further into him. He’ll cross that bridge when he gets to it. For now, he enjoys the warmth of Shihyun, snuggling into his shirt.

They stay like that for some time, and Yongguk checks his phone discreetly for the time, cursing as he realises there are a mere ten minutes left now, he alerts Shihyun unwillingly and they stand, gathering up Shihyun’s notes.

The atmosphere is awkward as if they both realise that their time is dwindling, and when they reach the door, Yongguk sighs and reaches for the handle, dreading the moment they step out.

There’s a tugging at his sleeve, and Yongguk turns back to look at Shihyun curiously. The boy is grasping the edge of his sleeve, his eyes downcast and a blush on his cheeks. Yongguk begins to speak, questioning Shihyun’s motives when Shihyun’s looking up, determination and shimmering stars in his eyes.

There’s a hand on his collar, and Yongguk’s bring yanked downwards and lips are being pressed against his. He shuts down for a moment, eyes widening before Shihyun is pulling away too quickly, trying to slip past him to reach the door, the flush on his cheek darkening.

Yongguk’s hand drags Shihyun back before he manages to escape, gripping Shihyun’s shoulder and turning him back to face him.

Shihyun’s eyes face the ground, a vibe of shame surrounding him. Yongguk lets go of his shoulder, moving his hand up to lightly tilt Shihyun’s face up towards him. Shihyun blinks up at him, and they both gaze wordlessly at each other.

It’s Shihyun who breaks the silence. “Good luck charm?” He tries, a shy smile on his face.

Yongguk scoffs in disbelief and tugs Shihyun back towards him for a proper kiss. The fireworks in his stomach are going off, and his mind feels blanked out but Yongguk has never felt more alive. Shihyun's lips are soft against him, and Yongguk tries to pull him impossibly closer. 

They stay like that just for a little bit, pressed against the door of the classroom. Yongguk brings both of his hands up to cup Shihyun’s face while Shihyun wraps his arms around Yongguk’s neck. The clock in the front of the room ticks away, marking the minutes until Shihyun’s departure.

When they pull apart, Yongguk reopens his eyes to see Shihyun grinning at him, glistening flecks of starlight in his eyes, holding the entire universe and beyond. He thumbs the tiny mole on Shihyun’s cheek as Shihyun slides his arms down to Yongguk’s waist.

“Let’s make a bet,” Shihyun whispers mischievously.

“Yeah?” Yongguk replies, both hating and loving the way his voice has turned breathy.

“If I ace my exam, you have to take me out on a date. A proper one, not just a studying one,” Shihyun offers.

Yongguk smirks and takes pleasure in the way Shihyun gulps, pupils blown wide. “What if you don’t ace it?”

“Then I’ll pay for it, but you still have to take me out,” Shihyun wagers as they disentangle, sliding open the door when they do so.

Shihyun checks the time and hisses in displeasure, beginning to jog down the hallway.

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” Yongguk calls out behind him, laughing to himself when Shihyun twists around to throw him a wink, heart feeling more open and free than it has ever been.

Everything will be alright.

(When Shihyun aces his exam, true to his word, Yongguk isn’t really surprised. He takes Shihyun to the amusement park and bites his lip to hide the wide smile breaking out over his face when Shihyun clasps their hands together, seamlessly intertwining their fingers together.)

~

(They lay back onto the hill Yongguk has picked out, side by side.

Above them, the indigo sky stretches on for miles to see, millions of shining dots littering the sky. Beneath them, the emerald grass is soft and comfortable as they stare upwards wordlessly, simply basking in each other’s presence.

Shihyun shifts closer to Yongguk, laying his head on his chest as Yongguk mindlessly strokes his hair. He draws him closer when a sharper breeze rattles the clearing, and Shihyun relaxes in his embrace.

The limitless stars reflect in Shihyun’s wide eyes, and Yongguk can’t help smiling fondly when Shihyun turns to him, the speckles mirrored infinitely.

He leans down to press a quick kiss to Shihyun’s lips, humming softly as he does.

“The stars are beautiful, aren’t they?” Shihyun breathes hushed murmurs.

 _They will never compare to you._ Yongguk thinks to himself. _You will always be more beautiful than all the stars in the galaxy combined._

 _"The only stars more beautiful are the ones sparkling in your eyes,”_ He wants to say, _”I love you, I love you so much,”_

Instead, he closes his eyes, letting the peaceful quiet lull him to a state of endless contentment.

“Yeah, you are.” He whispers back.)

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I didn't really deliver what the prompter wanted, especially with the oblivious Shihyun, but I had a huge ton of fun writing this! Thank you to whoever the prompter is, and to 101fest for hosting this ficfest!
> 
> I speak fluent Chinese due to my nationality, and that contributed to why I claimed his prompt. The short Chinese line in the beginning note means "The stars in your eyes are brighter, more beautiful than the ones in the sky". (kudos if you understood/translated it) The reply Yongguk says to Shihyun after Shihyun asks him to stargaze translates to "Let's go together in the future", foreshadowing the epilogue.
> 
> The title comes from the.the.the aka Longguo&Shihyun's title track! Support those two and all the other trainees from the show! Unfortunately, I couldn't find a lyric that had star imagery in it, but I feel like the title still fits well to a certain extent.
> 
> This was a really fun experience, and I look forward to the reveals!


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